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Corporate communication used to travel in only one direction: from the CEO down to the rank-and-file. But thanks to the Internet and globalization, that megaphone has become a cacophony of voices. In his new book Talk, Inc.: How Trusted Leaders Use Conversation to Power their Organizations, Harvard Business School professor Boris Groysberg, along with co-author Michael Slind, has taken a comprehensive look at how companies can communicate better in this new era.

“There can be a disconnect,” says Groysberg. “There’s the senior management team, which understands what the strategy should be, but then they’re not able to communicate it with everybody else. I was interested in communications as a part of strategy implementation. This is a book about what practices you need to have in a company to create a more effective organization.”

Social media is an important part of how leaders can communicate with their employees and external stakeholders, but Groysberg warns it’s only a tool: “Fundamentally, if you try to build a conversation-powered corporation, technology can help you, but without dedicated leadership and an inclusive culture, it won’t happen.” The real goal, he says, should be a recognition that the flow of information has speeded up, and there’s no longer a clear line between “internal” and “external” communication. The new reality, he says, is about “feeling comfortable that you have a lot less control.” As we’ve transitioned to a knowledge economy, companies have to recognize that “knowledge workers are different than machines – they talk back."

Years ago, says Groysberg, “It used to be the case that someone specializing in outside communications for a company could tell Wall Street the company was firing 5000 people and nobody inside the organization knew! But now, that email will find its way inside the organization.” In other words, your expectation should be full and rapid transparency.

Of course there are risks that come with open conversation, and some leaders push back. But, says Groysberg, he has a simple question for them: “Do you really believe you have as much control in 2012 as you had 30 years ago?” If they want to keep up, they have to adjust. Fortunately, it turns out that new communication techniques may be less risky than some fear. “When you allow people to blog,” says Groysberg, “the peer pressure works almost as a control mechanism. People won’t jeopardize their careers by saying something [truly out-of-bounds]. And in many cases, a peer will say, I don’t like what you said, and that’s much more effective than anything that comes from the top.”

The real secret to effective communication these days, says Groysberg, may be authenticity. “That’s why many CEOs now use video blogs. If you’re an employee and you have an email from the CEO, one thing that comes to your mind is, Who wrote this? Who put this together?” He cites the example of John Chambers, the CEO of Cisco, who’s become a frequent video blogger. “You know it comes from Chambers,” says Groysberg, “and anything that’s authentic is so much more powerful than the old model of controlled communication.”

Has your company changed its approach to communication in recent years? How are you leveraging social media? What strategies are you using to shift from ‘command-and-control’ to a real conversation?